BCCHardware

Deepcool @ CES 2016

Sunday, 10 January 2016 06:15
Written by Eric "Ironman" Johnsen

If you haven't heard of Deepcool before, after this CES, you will probably be trying to find someone who sells their products here in North America. Deepcool brought some interesting designs to their suite this year. One of such is the Tristellar case and by looks alone one could almost say it was out of a Star Wars movie. The graphics card is contained in the top one of the three "wings", while the PSU is in the lower left "wing" and lastly the ITX motherboard and CPU are housed in the lower right. There is also enough room to stick one of Deepcool’s liquid coolers in the case as well.

The Images will show the Tristellar S white case however this is a special Bill Owen MOD case with only 50 made globally; the normal version of the case comes in black.

The Genome which will be hitting the market later this year is more than just a case, it's an extreme liquid cooling system. The case and liquid cooler are designed to fit seamlessly together all the while bringing some interesting design elements in along the way. The cooling solution is a 360mm radiator with 3 PWM fans, a helix reservoir, and all the while using the new captain design CPU block and pump. Depending on the final price when it hits the market it really could be worth looking at when building a new rig.

To top it all off DeepCool was demonstrating a PSU that was liquid cooled which is something not too many people have worked on. Who knows if it will become a mainstream item or not, but it's always cool to seem something new and different.

ESPN vs. Cable Cutters

Thursday, 21 January 2016 17:12
Written by Jason

We post quite a few stories about how more and more people are making the decision to cut the cord on traditional cable services and go with other alternatives. ESPN is one of the names that comes up time and time again in this discussion and thanks to a new report their name has surfaced once again. In this new report people were asked if they would be cut ESPN from their cable package in exchange for a $8 drop in price and 56% said yes. The follow up question was would you pay $20 a month for a streaming service (similar to HBO, etc.) and the response was 85% said no. The results probably aren't too surprising, it's just amazing that the cable companies and their content providers aren't making a better effort to combat the loss of subscribers. TechDirt has the full story.

Over the last year, ESPN's decision to laugh off cord cutting has truly come home to roost. The company has had to engage in numerous "belt tightening measures" after losing around 7 million subscribers in just two years. Where are these subscribers going? Many are cutting the TV cord entirely. Others are opting for so-called "skinny bundles" that pull pricier channels like ESPN out of the core cable lineup, moving them to additional, premium channel packs. Companies like Verizon that have experimented with skinny bundles have been rewarded for their efforts with with lawsuits from ESPN.

Xbox Store Black Friday Deals

Monday, 21 November 2016 16:01
Written by Benjamin "Zeus" Heide

If you've been working your butt off and need some time to relax, this coming week is going to be the week you need to start shopping for some entertainment. Microsoft's Xbox Store is getting some smokin' deals on some really great games. Battlefield 1 is set to be 33% off FIFA 17 is 40% off and things just get better from there. Take a look at the link below and the video to tease you just a bit.

Microsoft Edge is Netflix 4K Exclusive Streaming Browser

Tuesday, 22 November 2016 03:02
Written by Benjamin "Zeus" Heide

Netflix 4K streaming is finally coming to PCs, but the bad news is that if you want to enjoy 4K goodness, you'll have to use Microsoft Edge browser. The requirements don't stop there however. In order to power the Edge browser, you'll need an Intel Kaby Lake processor (7th Gen-Core) and a 4K display. The reality is that 4K video decoding does take a lot of horsepower, but there are other alternatives that support 4K streaming through apps. More information below.

The inclusion of the Xbox One S is interesting, although not surprising. But the Windows Store lists Netflix as being available on PCs, phones, and Xbox. In theory, if you have a 4K PC that doesn't have Kaby Lake, you should be able to use the app to stream, even though it's not listed on Netflix's official list. We've reached out to the company for confirmation of this.

Nokia to join Android market in early 2017

Friday, 02 December 2016 06:03
Written by Jason

Nokia is joining the green team with their new plans to release Android handsets early in 2017. Nokia of course sold their phone business to Microsoft who killed off the Nokia name and went with the Lumia branding instead. Now thanks to a partnership with HMD Global, Nokia is taking another stab at the smartphone market this time hitching their wagon on the Android train. The Verge has the full story.

The first Nokia-branded handsets running Android are due to arrive early next year. After announcing its plans to return to tablets and phones back in May, Nokia is providing more details today as it formalizes a licensing agreement with HMD Global (HMD). Also based in Finland, HMD global is the new home of Nokia phones under a brand licensing deal that will last for at least 10 years.

Nokia is launching a new phones section on its site today, marking the return of Nokia-branded smartphones and tablets after Microsoft acquired its phone business and killed off the Nokia brand in favor of Lumia for smartphones. The first Nokia-branded smartphones powered by Android will be available in the first half of 2017, alongside Nokia-branded feature phones.